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3.14.2013

blogger rant

so I got an email the other day about a group giveaway & if they should still continue it because they read a post about how bloggers are over all these huge group giveaways....

so I just wanted to give my opinion because it seems everybody in blogland has something to say about everything....

seriously lets look at this.....it takes about maybe 15 minutes out of your entire day to enter them...for FREE stuff....i mean why would you be over huge giveaways where you have a chance to win free stuff?

PLUS...you don't have to enter them.

and i think its VERY generous of all the bloggers who put in money to giveaway something huge or giveaway gift cards...we live in a recession....and yet we bloggers are still SO GIVING....

so it baffles me why anyone would say anything negative about too many giveaways.

and then there are the people who claim bloggers only do these giveaways to gain more followers....

um isn't that the point of blogging?

To get people to your blog one way or another? Yeah sure some of you just write for 'you'...but mainly we all want people to come & check out our blogs...& using a giveaway as a way to get people there shouldn't be frowned upon....people have different ways of attracting new traffic and followers...so get over it.

bottom line - do what YOU want on YOUR blog.

so that's my blogger rant for the day.....and speaking of bloggers in general today I have a blogger whom i've followed since she started blogging. She is always a really fun read and just an awesome person all around. Her blog is a mixture of fashion & life...& it's never dull. She's got a really outgoing, funny personality and you can feel that in the writing....& a super cool job that I love hearing about.

PLUS she has some great blogger advice....so without further ado meet

Well fancy seeing you all here! I am Amanda, and I am the
girl behind the computer, behind the blog over at Denim &Daydreams. A little bit about me you ask? A twenty something with a love
for fashion, sports and all things Boston. Navigating my way through
post-grad life, living with my boyfriend and being a "professional". I
try never to leave the house without a little bronzer and mascara. A
couple things I know? Sports, fashion, celebrity gossip and that a
girl needs her friends.

My drug of choice?

Handbags and a good slice
of pizza.

I
am an event planner at a hotel by day and a blogger by night. I
am obsessed with the Patriots, Bruins, PGA Golf and
sometimes the Red Sox if they do not upset me. I am the reigning
Fantasy Football champion in my league and I have no problem reminding
all the boys daily. I can be messy sometimes, but it can be really
hard to find the perfect outfit and sometimes the clothes pile up.

After a bad day, I either will curl up with a diet coke and some
cheez-its or a glass of sauvignon blanc. When I am not in my
business-cas get ups for work, you will likely find me in denim (or
leggings depending on the day...) because I strongly believe a good
pair (or 10) of jeans can change your life.

What will you find if you decide to take the trip over to
my corner of the blogosphere? Anything from a collection of items on
my currently coveting list, how to's for DIY projects or Pintrest
meals that have been a success (this isn't often, as most are a
disaster), recaps of my random thoughts and a whole lot of fun. I
don't take myself seriously, ever.

Kelly was one of my first followers, and she holds a
special place in my heart. You know that moment when
you receive your first comment or a new follower? As a new
blogger, that feeling really never gets old. That is why I blog. I
blog because there is a whole world out there of us behind our
computers posting about our thoughts, our style and our
daydreams.

I started Denim & Daydreams as a secret. I didn't
tell my friends, family or even my boyfriend right away. I wanted to
make sure this little daydream I had of sharing my ideas and daily
thoughts, was a good fit. Working the normal nine to five really can
put you into a endless and repetitive cycle
rut. I got home from work one night, after a
particularly awful day and made the decision that today would be the
day I become a blogger. I needed an outlet to express silly things
like a bag I needed, yet couldn't afford. Or a place to
collect ideas for gifts or outfits. Or that project I HAD to do from
Pintrest, and how poorly it ended up.

After a few weeks of blogging,
with no response, I gave up. I didn't blog for a whole summer and
completely put it out of my mind. In October, I finally kicked myself
in the tush and started up again and I haven't looked back. I think I
am in love with you guys out there. It's like an
addiction.

If I can give anyone a piece of advice about blogging?
Don't stop. Post as often as you can. Make friends and interact with
other bloggers. It isn't a contest or a competition. We are all here
for the same reason.

Hopefully I will see some of you soon over at Denim& Daydreams...I promise I try limit the sports
talk...Sometimes, I just can't help it.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone had to say it! Can't stand the complaints. I don't understand why people complain about giveaways because in lots of cases there is also an original post with the giveaway, so who cares?

Plus, people need to realize a)how much work goes into them b)that bloggers still work hard to keep actual readers even if their numbers go up quickly because of giveaway participation.

P.S. If you just want to blog for "you" then you don't need a whole post dedicated to the fact that you are no longer participating in giveaways. Just don't participate. Message sent.

I love giveaways, and don't see a problem with it. What I don't get is people that complain? Do they hate free stuff? To me that's weird. To each their own. I mean entering a giveaway only takes seconds. Since blogging, I've won pretty cool stuff, and enter just about every giveaway that interests me on blogs I follow (which is a lot haha). I mean, I don't necessarily do every entry.

Plus, who doesn't want more followers. I think of giveaways like sponsors/advertisements. You put yourself in front of a bigger audience and get to reach more people. Granted not all of those followers will stay, but some will.

I think my biggest pet peeve is the "I know everything about blogging" attitude. It's not always there but it creeps up in some bloggers posts and it's irritating. Blogging is always changing and therefor, we as bloggers are always learning.

I completely agree about the giveaways. If you're "over" them, then don't enter them. I personally love free stuff. Thanks for your dose of honesty and reality!

My pet peeve is people complaining about people "stealing" their ideas. Just because your blog design is a similar color scheme as someone elses doesnt mean you stole it from them. There are only so many colors haha!

I once had a blogger email me and told me that my giveaway was lame because I was giving away ad space and that if I didn't have anything "worthy" of giving that I shouldn't have given anything at all. People always get all high and mighty and they think just because they are sitting behind a keyboard it gives the right to (pardon my french) shit on people's parades. I 100% agree with you, if you don't like giveaways, don't enter them.

Everyone loves free stuff yes, but I think people are 'over group giveaways' because they consider that their only daily post. Individuals follow bloggers to read their content not just see them post giveaways. At least that's how I feel!

Totally agree girl! I think people need to just do what's best for them and their blog and get per whatever someone else chooses to do. If you're annoyed with giveaways don't have them and don't enter them, but don't try to tell someone else what to do with their blog.

I don't want to follow 20+ bloggers just to get free stuff. It clogs up my reading list and I don't feel as though I'm being genuine for following just so I can win something.

YES- I have found AMAZING blogs through giveaways.

YES- There are amazing items given away for free (like $1000 CASH!)

Giveaways are always FUN!!

But if I'm late to the game and there are 3K+ entries already and I have to follow a lot of blogs/Pinterest/Twitter/Facebook accounts, I just browse on by.

Sometimes I check out the blogs sponsoring- hey, I know what's up! You're hosting a giveaway to get more readers. No shame in your game! I can appreciate that.

That being said, if I don't want to follow a lot of bloggers through various social media sites, I choose not to enter.

I'm not going to complain about YOU wanting to be generous and host a giveaway as a group- I just choose not to participate.

So to make a long comment even longer- Yes, I'm not a fan of huge group giveaways. and YES I completely agree with you that bloggers should be able to do whatever they want on their blogs and host their giveaways any way they want and bring readers to their blog in any strategy they choose =)

the only giveaways I don't like are the ones where you have to like 10 facebook pages for just one entry! they are the ones run by giveaway companies or whatever. If a blogger does an entry and I follow them I will always enter at least for the entries I can!

Seriously....I feel like you read my mind today. I have only been blogging for a few weeks and I feel like gaining followers is awesome by networking and just simply being kind and reaching out is the way to go and who DOESN'T love giveaways??? I love giveaways, its thrilling to enter and so exciting to win!!!

I don't get when bloggers rant all about being annoyed with giveaways. Yes, only having giveaway after giveaway instead of writing an actual post can be kind of disappointing. But c'mon! Taking even an hour out of your day to enter a few giveaways for potentially hundreds of dollars worth of prizes? Who doesn't love that?!

i say blog giveaway - away as much as you wish. if you want to do it - what is the big deal. we all need to realize are all different, what you like is not what they will like - i enjoy folks who stick out & enjoy having fun. no worries. it's life - have fun. don't sweat the small stuff. can't wait to see what you do next. thanks for the chance. ( :

This may not be the kind of pet peeve you are looking for, but on a ton of blogs I can't even comment! I read the posts and go to comment and for some reason it never shows! Really boils my blood! Grrrr

Hi There! I always love talking blog, and just want to give a different perspective. While I have never vocally been opposed to the group giveaways, and I host a lot of giveaways myself, I do oppose them and wouldn't partake in them. The reason why I don't support group giveaways is because it's sort of like buying followers, with cash no less. The point of blogging is to be genuine and gain followers through great content and connecting with readers, not by giving away as much stuff as we can. Yes it's generous, but with an ulterior motive. When you give product away it is usually because you want to support the shop or company because you have a genuine connection with their product, but when you give away cash and iPads, I just don't see the point. Thanks for listening to another POV. :)

You flippin rock it out and tell them! I too have felt that although some are annoying in general, people are giving their support to giveaways and that you should NEVER be ungrateful for freebies!! Sometimes I think people get on their "rants" because they're jealous that others are successful at the blogging thing.

I have a slight suspicion that maybe....people diss on large giveaways because they don't have/don't want to invest the time and resources that it requires to offer them, and maybe they feel that they and their blog look bad in comparison because they don't offer giveaways. I don't know. I don't have giveaways hardly ever because of the time/resources situation....plus the fact that I'm rather nervous about all the legal stuff involved. But you can bet I enjoy entering them occasionally!

In, theory, I'd agree w/you. Group giveaways are a nice way for their hosts to gain followers (which is important in--tho not the main point of--blogging). But I'd respectfully like to disagree too as these giveaways' sometimes ridiculous requirements are what have become a pet peeve to many in blogland. As your guest put it, "It isn't a contest or a competition," so why make readers go thru the burden of following 10+ blogs (or entering 10+ times via Rafflecopter--ahem no offense) when it's NOT a competition?

In other words, many bloggers should put themselves in other people's shoes and realize that we don't want to be required to follow a bunch of people we wouldn't follow if we didn't have to OR go jump a bunch of hoops to enter some giveaway. It shouldn't be a competition if we're just blogging b/c we genuinely like it.

With that said, I do love your blog and I enjoy that we're free to do what we want on our blogs.Xo, Annie (www.theRantingLatina.com)

I have mixed feelings on these large giveaways...do I like the possibility of winning free stuff? Of course! However, it does take quite a while to enter when you have to click on 20 different blogs so you can follow them (most of the time I don't already) AND click on 20 different twitter accounts, facebook pages, pinterest pages etc.

And I agree with the person above that says it's like buying followers. If you have a giveaway to promote a product or shop that you love that's awesome. And if you gain followers in the process, bonus! But the ones that are just offereing cash, while generous, it just rubs me the wrong way a bit. Personally I would rather have someone follow my blog because they like the content than because I'm offering up cash.

1. I LOVE giveaways. Honestly, I wouldn't know more than HALF of my 999+ blogs I follow, if it weren't for giveaways. This past year, I have whittled them down off of my fave blogs. I'm very lucky and I win a lot of stuff, which makes me really happy. Now, I'm able to give away some of the stuff I won, because I'm unemployeed right now. Which is ok, because I don't need $80+ on my Starbucks card!

2. I NEVER EVER care what other people say. Look at my blog. I blog when I want. My blog is a hybrid of blogs, and I post what *i* like or what I find interesting. Plus I'm learning, and ALL of this is fairly new to me.

3. There are no "rules" to blogging. If you are following rules, then you are blogging for the wrong reasons. You can't please everyone all of the time. Too many giveaways? I see a few small giveaways by sponsors and a few big ones that you have participated in. But look at your blog!! Look HOW MUCH content you have between your Rafflecopters. It's like 90:10!

4. You are correct when you say giveaways bring traffic. There are only SO many link-ups you can do. Exposure is good, and if people like you, then they want to follow you. Which is how I found you! I even get you emailed to by inbox everyday.

5. I've been blessed with 2 $100 Target cards in the past two months that have come at a time when I needed them. You have NO idea how happy I was, and cried when I got the second one, so I could buy some stuff I really needed. There is no where else you can win these small blessings.

Hi Kelly! Just when I was starting to wonder if I should keep entering and sharing giveaways, I find this lovely gem of a post...thank you! I have a new found joy in giveaway entries, not only because I could win some totally awesome prizes but because I'm supporting fellow bloggers. Booyah!

I'm tired of posting the html of large giveaways on my blog, but I have had some fun being a part of them! I've met some fabulous bloggers lately through them. If I don't want to enter a giveaway, I don't, and if I only want to do one or two of the entries, then that's all I do. I think people think that if they enter, they have to do everything, but that's not the case.

In all honesty I'm tired of the big group giveaways. They are a lot of work usually and it is very hard to win. I love giveaways though:) Fun to try to win and great to find new blogs to follow! thanks!

My pet peeve is when I take the time to enter a contest, fill in all of the requirements, including promising that my first born will follow them (!), and then they don't announce a contest winner on their blog, on Twitter, on Facebook!!!

I don't really have many blogging pet peeves! If I'm too annoyed with a blog, I just don't read it anymore :-) I think my annoyance is when bloggers are negative about other bloggers in general... Everyone should do what they want with their own little space online (and in life)!

second - i am one of the ones totally over huge group giveaways. i mean, i've never gone as far as to write a post about it, just keep scrolling through my google reader (adios lover!).... if you want to do a group giveaway, more power to you - the issue to me is everyone pools all their resources together to offer these huge prices so that ONE person can win all. i just can't help but think, if all these people did a "old school" giveaway on their blog, how many people could be winning stuff?

it's just a matter of preference. i've entered a few huge group giveaways, and no, i don't do all the entries, ... but like another commenter said, it's just a lot of time and effort to enter something that i consider as realistic of winning as the lottery (yes, i know that the lottery is probably a *tad* more unlikely!) hahah

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